Friday, November 02, 2012

How-To : Kids and Mobile Safety

You spend much of your adult, parenting life, keeping your kids safe. When you tether them to the world with a cell phone. . .how do you continue to keep them safe?

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend one of AT&T's Mobile Safety Webinars. Their Mobile Safety program has been established to educate parents on what safety means when it comes to mobile devices, and to provide resources that help parents navigate this daily in their homes.

According to research conducted by AT&T, the average age that a kid gets their first cell phone is 12.1 years. By the way, I was right around 30, when I got mine, which I am happy to share with my boys when they ask. Boy have times changed!

And it's not just bullying or inappropriate pictures we have to worry about. What about texting and driving (for our older teens)?

Here are some startling statistics AT&T found in their research. . .according to kids,

Over HALF have been in a car with someone who was texting and driving

Over 1 in 5 have received a mean text message

Almost half have a friend who has received a sexual picture or message

69% have received a call from an unknown number

So clearly, we are worried with good cause. Now, what do we DO about it? Start by monitoring their phone usage. Of the kids interviewed, only 66% said they do have rules on their phone usage.

Here at our house, we do have rules. Mostly, they are very simple.

You MUST ask before downloading anything - even if it's free. No ask, it gets removed and/or you lose use of the phone for a number of days.

The phone stays downstairs at night.

No texting or calling after 8pm.

AT&T has put together a variety of resources for YOU the parents to use to talk to your kids about Mobile Safety. 2 out of 5 kids said their parents have NOT talked to them about Mobile Safety. Don't be one of those. AT&T even has a Mobile Technology Family Agreement you can download.

In my opinion, this is much easier than talking to my kids about sex, or drugs . . .but it's just as important. Of kids ages 12-14, 35% have smartphones. That's basically having the entire world in the palm of their hand. It's a wonderful and useful tool. . .but it's important we teach our kids to handle it safely AND smartly. We wouldn't give them access to the kitchen without telling them about hot stoves and sharp knives - right?

Do you have a child with a cell phone? Have you talked with them about Mobile Safety? I'd love if you'd share how you planned your talk and what were some key discussion points!

catch you soon -

note - This post is part of a compensated cell phone safety campaign for ATT
through The Motherhood. As always, all opinions expressed here are my very own.

I have been holding seminars throughout the area on this very topic, as you know. Much of the discussion is about having these discussions and how to make sure that we, as parents, take ownership of becoming educated enough to educate our children. We spent an hour at last week's discussion offering tips for the parent/child discussion. I'd love if you would attend one. I will be speaking at Norwood Academy on Nov 19th and sometime after at Springfield High School.

We've been talking about it a lot lately because our teen is driving. Shes been putting her purse in the back seat when she gets in the car so she isn't tempted. We aren't very good examples though. I'm often sitting at red lights checking my phone and then getting honked at because I'm sitting too long. I have to just let it go till I get to my destination, nothing is that important.

We've been discussing the phone a lot lately, because my daughter who is 9 is being left place more & more without my husband or I there and I start to worry that I'd like her to be able to call if there was an emergency. We won't have to worry about texting for a while :)

I think we do have a big disconnect between our kids and their use of technology. I'm so glad to see you raising awareness about this. I am especially concerned about the texting and driving because that can impact others as well.

Angela that is so very true - it can have devastating consequences for other families. . .it's got to become one of those "Just Say No" issues in our society. Something I'm curious about - is the impact of putting more technology IN cars - by the manufacturers. . .better or worse?

A Bit About Me + My Blog:

Hi - I'm Hillary, a published author and lifestyle blogger living in the Philadelphia suburbs with my husband, two boys and an occasional cat. While I may be a work in progress, here on the blog I share posts that hopefully make your life just a little easier. We're all busy after all . . .but there just HAS to be a better way, right?

You can always contact me directly, any time via email at hchybinski@comcast.net

Pinterest

Twitter

Hillary Chybinski

Instagram

Disclaimer & Privacy

Please note that this blog was created for entertainment purposes only. You can read my full disclosure here or learn more about me, why I blog and how I started out here. Feel free to shoot me an email if you have any questions, comments or just want to chat!